Thoughts about when Exit & Reentry to Kingdom will be possible?

[WaveHunter]

I hold a long-stay visa and wanted to visit family in the USA over the Holidays (i.e.: December) and then return to the Kingdom afterwards.  I know there are no official announcements about date that general tourism will resume but I'm just wondering if anyone has informed guesses when it might be possible to exit and re-enter (even though a 14 day Quarantine would probably be required).  Any thoughts??

[Oldie]

Tomorrow? 

[Oldie]

Perhaps after tomorrow? 

[northsouthdevide]

I'm hoping that the situation gets better, and not worse, but the signs are that all governments are trying to ease Lockdowns in order to boost their economies, 

But there seems to be a pattern of re- infection. 

Before the production of a vaccine, we might see more strict Lockdowns again. 

[from the home of CC]

if they opened the floodgates here and allowed the virus to rampage through the country as they have done in the west, I would definitely reconsider living here..

[WaveHunter]

5 minutes ago, northsouthdevide said:

I'm hoping that the situation gets better, and not worse, but the signs are that all governments are trying to ease Lockdowns in order to boost their economies, 

But there seems to be a pattern of re- infection. 

Before the production of a vaccine, we might see more strict Lockdowns again. 

I think Thailand has handled the situation incredibly well which is obvious by the fact that there are no new domestic cases in over two months, and all incoming people must face a mandatory 14 day quarantine.  My question is really whether foreign nationals here on long stay visas might be allowed to exit and re-enter before general tourism resumes.

[WaveHunter]

12 minutes ago, from the home of CC said:

if they opened the floodgates here and allowed the virus to rampage through the country as they have done in the west, I would definitely reconsider living here..

Well, of course I agree with you but I don't think Thailand will open the floodgates at all.  They will open things up in stages, which is what they are already doing with respect to Thai Nationals and certain foreign nationals being allowed entry with a 14 day Quarantine.  My hope is that foreign nationals with long stay visa might possibly be allowed to exit and reenter at some point before general tourism resumes. Since most of the official government "re-opening discussions occur every day but mostly only reported in Thai language and I don't understand Thai, I was just hoping that someone who does might have more info on this that I do.

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by WaveHunter

[Thaiophil]

I am waiting to get back to Thailand from the UK. Thai Airways tell me they will start flying again in Oct and Bangkok post today reports agreement to let tourists back in to sealed zones in Phuket and maybe other tourist areas from Oct. Oct is usually when the tourist season starts kicking off, so there is some logic

 

For sure, entry will remain restricted but various indicators suggest some liberalisation in Oct

 

Thailand is also trying to make advanced purchases of vaccines

[Oldie]

4 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

I don't think Thailand will open the floodgates.  They will open things up in stages, which is what they are already doing with respect to Thai Nationals and certain foreign nationals being allowed entry with a 14 day Quarantine.  My hope is that foreign nationals with long stay visa might possible be allowed to exit and reenter before general tourism resumes. Since most of the official government discussions are reported only Thai and I donlt speak Thai, I was just hoping that someone might have more info on this that I do.

 

What does it help you to get useless assumptions? The government will let us know when they will allow it. And I can't get rid of the feeling that they don't know it yet. And even if they allow it one day you might have quarantine in both countries. But even this is not for sure.

[WaveHunter]

2 minutes ago, Thaiophil said:

I am waiting to get back to Thailand from the UK. Thai Airways tell me they will start flying again in Oct and Bangkok post today reports agreement to let tourists back in to sealed zones in Phuket and maybe other tourist areas from Oct. Oct is usually when the tourist season starts kicking off, so there is some logic

 

For sure, entry will remain restricted but various indicators suggest some liberalisation in Oct

 

Thailand is also trying to make advanced purchases of vaccines

Yes, the cabinet approved three tourism campaigns aimed to resume international tourism back in July that indicated the month of October, but since then I have heard no official updates on this, thus my post to see of others have heard something.  Thanks for posting your info.

[WaveHunter]

4 minutes ago, Oldie said:

What does it help you to get useless assumptions? The government will let us know when they will allow it. And I can't get rid of the feeling that they don't know it yet. And even if they allow it one day you might have quarantine in both countries. But even this is not for sure.

Informed information about Cabinet discussions that might only be reported in Thai is NOT "useless assumptions".  I simply wish to be as well informed as possible.

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by WaveHunter

[Keyser Soze666]

There is no black and white answer as it will most likely be staggered for different areas of the country and for different nationalities coming in, at best. The problem is the paranoia of incomers spreading the infection. I really don't see how a normal joe tourist can be expected to quarantine for 14 days if they are just coming for a holiday, obviously not going to happen. So I don't see where the answer is. The whole situation is an utter mess. The world is <deleted> imo.

Edited August 21, 2020 by Keyser Soze666

[allane]

Topics such as this one, inviting uninformed people to speculate, should be deleted. They accomplish nothing except to cause people to seize upon the earliest date that is mentioned, and start talking about it as if it is a fact. There is also a definition problem: What does reopen mean ? For whom ? Going to, or coming from where ?

I have no idea when Thailand will reopen, whatever that word means to you. I can say with 99% certainty, that the country is not going to throw open its borders to anyone from anywhere on Day One.

People who need something to speculate on something can stand by the side of the road, and speculate on the last digit of the licence plate on the next car to come along. 

[Keyser Soze666]

23 minutes ago, Thaiophil said:

Bangkok post today reports agreement to let tourists back in to sealed zones in Phuket and maybe other tourist areas from Oct.

Why would any tourist want to fly all the way from the West just to holiday in a sealed zone in Phuket? Phuket aint that great at the best of times. It's <deleted>, is the answer.

[Keyser Soze666]

2 minutes ago, allane said:

Topics such as this one, inviting uninformed people to speculate, should be deleted. They accomplish nothing

Who made you judge and jury, fella??

 

FYI the majority of topics on here accomplish nothing, do you want them deleted too?

[Stocky]

11 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

FYI the majority of topics on here accomplish nothing, do you want them deleted too?

Would be a far more informative website if they did.

[connda]

You're not going to see anything that resembles 'normal' in the way of tourism and open borders until after vaccines have been released to the public and "immunity passports" are issued. 

[Keyser Soze666]

2 minutes ago, Stocky said:

Would be a far more informative website if they did.

Wouldn't be much left though would there, which is the point.

[Matzzon]

The 29th of November 12.45 beep! 

Sorry, NOoooo! It´s impossible to say. Not even an informed guess, whatever that is, can be of assistance.

[connda]

17 minutes ago, allane said:

Topics such as this one, inviting uninformed people to speculate, should be deleted.

Actually, topics like this allow those who are concerned to voice their concerns and seek solutions though consensus. 

[WaveHunter]

27 minutes ago, allane said:

Topics such as this one, inviting uninformed people to speculate, should be deleted. They accomplish nothing except to cause people to seize upon the earliest date that is mentioned, and start talking about it as if it is a fact. There is also a definition problem: What does reopen mean ? For whom ? Going to, or coming from where ?

I have no idea when Thailand will reopen, whatever that word means to you. I can say with 99% certainty, that the country is not going to throw open its borders to anyone from anywhere on Day One.

People who need something to speculate on something can stand by the side of the road, and speculate on the last digit of the licence plate on the next car to come along. 

 I'm not asking uninformed people to speculate.  I am asking for those who may have information from cabinet meetings that are only reported in Thai to share latest discussions.  While I applaud Thai official response to Covid-19, informing non-Thai speaking foreign nationals is not their strong suit.  The last official discussion in English was two weeks ago.

 

EDIT:

As I was typing this reply, a new briefing of the latest CCSA meeting with the Prime Minister today was released just a few minutes ago. Some of the key points mentioned were:

• The fifth extension of the Emergency Decree was announced which will begin 01 Sep through 30 Sep.
• It has now been 88 days that no new domestic cases of Covid-19 have been reported.
• To date, more than 73,000 Thai Nationals have been repatriated back into Thailand and over 7,200 foreign nationals have been allowed to enter since July.  That is a LOT of people; much more than I realized, and all of them contained in quarenteen, and not one single case of COvid-19 spreading to the general population.  THAT is pretty damn impressive!
• No specific dates provided when tourism will resume but mention was made that October may be a pivotal month for developments to occur.

 

You can see the official briefing at:  

 

 

Edited August 21, 2020 by WaveHunter

[Pilotman]

Perhaps one indication is that my old colleagues at Eva Air say that the airline had no immediate plans to reinstate any extra flights through BKK this quarter or next. On the contrary, they seem to want to develop the transiting direct flights from TPE to European destinations, so effectively missing out on BKK and feeding their long haul with smaller jets, BKK to TPE then onward. It looks like they think that passenger numbers are not going to start increasing until second quarter next year and even then only slowly, not enough to justify the same number of B777 and B787 direct flights from BKK as pre covid.  I understand that the airline is fast losing patience with the Thai authorities.  All conjecture of course, and this is only one airline, albeit one of only three flying direct to LHR.  

Edited August 21, 2020 by Pilotman

[WaveHunter]

20 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

Who made you judge and jury, fella??

 

FYI the majority of topics on here accomplish nothing, do you want them deleted too?

LOL, if they did that, practically the only thing that would be left would be advertisements.

[FritsSikkink]

It will cost you quite a bit to get back:

 

https://www.chiangraitimes.com/learning/expat-story-traveling-from-the-netherlands-to-thailand-during-covid-19/?fbclid=IwAR2H6r4B-FkTpBDtVtPPmYyGCHBrrHj8TXLGQ3GX4bUGWWsk0XjaiwyJWYo

 

[DaLa]

49 minutes ago, Thaiophil said:

I am waiting to get back to Thailand from the UK. Thai Airways tell me they will start flying again in Oct and Bangkok post today reports agreement to let tourists back in to sealed zones in Phuket and maybe other tourist areas from Oct. Oct is usually when the tourist season starts kicking off, so there is some logic

 

For sure, entry will remain restricted but various indicators suggest some liberalisation in Oct

 

Thailand is also trying to make advanced purchases of vaccines

Just had emails from Emirates yesterday cancelling all my booked flights into and out of Thailand in September and October. Thank fully I'm 'stuck' in Thailand and not 'stuck' outside.

[Pilotman]

3 minutes ago, DaLa said:

Just had emails from Emirates yesterday cancelling all my booked flights into and out of Thailand in September and October. Thank fully I'm 'stuck' in Thailand and not 'stuck' outside.

yep, stuck here is a very good thing. 

[Thaiophil]

27 minutes ago, Keyser Soze666 said:

Why would any tourist want to fly all the way from the West just to holiday in a sealed zone in Phuket? Phuket aint that great at the best of times. It's <deleted>, is the answer.

I agree, but OP was looking for signs that Thailand will reopen and this is one.

 

As tourism is 15% of the economy, the Thai economy is tanking and millions of poorer Thais depend on it for their livelihood, they have to resume tourism sooner rather than later, but obviously there will be restrictions for a long time

[Keyser Soze666]

6 minutes ago, WaveHunter said:

LOL, if they did that, practically the only thing that would be left would be advertisements.

Which was (obviously) my point.

[Thaiophil]

@DaLa lucky you

[WaveHunter]

37 minutes ago, Pilotman said:

Perhaps one indication is that my old colleagues at Eva Air say that the airline had no immediate plans to reinstate any extra flights through BKK this quarter or next. On the contrary, they seem to want to develop the transiting direct flights from TPE to European destinations, so effectively missing out on BKK and feeding their long haul with smaller jets, BKK to TPE then onward. It looks like they think that passenger numbers are not going to start increasing until second quarter next year and even then only slowly, not enough to justify the same number of B777 and B787 direct flights from BKK as pre covid.  I understand that the airline is fast losing patience with the Thai authorities.  All conjecture of course, and this is only one airline, albeit one of only three flying direct to LHR.  

I'm sure that the government must be under tremendous pressure from the airlines, not to mention the hospitality industry, but as one poster mentioned, how many potential tourists are going to accept a mandatory 14 day quarantine at their expense as part of their travel package?  Not many, so yeah, it seems obvious it's going to be a while before general tourism will resume. 

 

The situation is far different for foreign nationals living here in Thailand who wish to return.  A 14 day quarantine is not nearly such a big deal to them.  So, it really boils down to when will quarantine facilities be able accommodate them, and I suspect it will be a LOT earlier than general tourism will be allowed.  Perhaps as early as when most Thai Nationals living abroad have already been repatriated...I hope.

Edited August 21, 2020 by WaveHunter